A Grizzly Victory
by TraballaFriend
Summary: A collection of stories centering around Rachel post-war. This is NOT a "Rachel shouldn't have died so I'm going to fix it" fic. This IS an attempt to answer the question "How would Rachel have dealt with the end of the war?" More info inside.
1. EvidenceI'm Here

A/N: As noted in the summary, while these stories are about post-war Rachel this is not a correction!fic. It's just that multiple characters wonder several times over the course of the book how exactly Rachel would deal with the end of the war she seemed to thrive on. Do to...unfortunate circumstances, we never found out. This fanfic is designed to be a collection of stories based on a variety of prompt tables that answer that question. Unless otherwise noted each story is stand alone. Do not expect consistent chronology or even continuity. It is possible that one story may contradict another because let's face it, there were several different paths Rachel could take post-war and still be in character and I don't want to limit myself to just one of those. This fic is all about exploring possibilities. If one of those possibilities gets a lot of response or I become particularly attached to it I may write a separate story expanding it but it will be posted separately. Okay I think that's everything. I promise author's notes won't normally be this long.

Please review and let me know if you have any ideas in mind for Rachel's life after the war that you would like my to write.

This first chapter is based on the prompts "Evidence" and "I'm here".

**Disclaimer: **I have a friend named Kathryn but her last name isn't Applegate and neither is mine.

**Evidence/I'm Here**

My name is Rachel. I am a member of the guerilla warfare group known as the Animorphs or (as Marco has just informed me) the Earth Liberation Force. So I guess that makes me a shape-shifter and an elf. Great I'm cracking jokes worthy of Marco. I'm still in shock. We appear to have won the fight for Earth. I know this. I can see it, but I can't seem to believe it.

This is was I wanted isn't it? To see Visser One completely at our mercy. To crush the yeerks beneath our paws. Today ten thousand yeerks died. Today my cousin died. I killed him. In a way I feel like I have done Crayak's bidding. He ordered me to kill my cousin and I have. Maybe it wasn't the cousin he wanted me to kill but I wonder if that will make much difference. I look into the face of our fearless leader and I wonder if it truly mattered to Crayak which cousin I killed.

The reporters surround us. We have just parked the blade ship on the White House lawn. The president has thanked us and the Visser is at our mercy. All the evidence points to a victory, so why doesn't it feel like one?

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It's takes four days and a lot of effort for our families to make it out from the Hork-Bajir valley to Washington and when they finally arrived no one told us. It is highly doubtful that they forgot. Marco suspects that they kept it a secret because our surprise would make for better television. Later I will be angry at being used like this. At the moment though I'm just thrilled to see my family. I hear my mother's voice shouting for me. The fear in her voice is intense. It's almost like she doesn't expect me to respond.

I shout over the inane chatter and insistent screaming of the reporters. "I'm over here. I'm here Mom." I shout and I shout until she and my sisters make it over to me. Sara and Jordan are wearing clean clothes. They're faces have been washed free of the mud of the Valley that was their refuge and their prison. They are smiling. I bend down and hug them tight, tears in my eyes, and I finally acknowledge that we have won.

I am here, my sisters are here, my mother is here, even my father has been found and is here. We are here we are alive and the yeerks have been defeated. I hug my family and then I laugh. It's a wild laugh full of victory. After all these years, battles and pain we have finally won. The reporters back off, but my family stays close. I think they understand. I grin with savage glee finally enjoying the taste of victory.


	2. Funeral

**Funeral**

Somehow refusing to acknowledge the existence of this day had not kept it from coming. Rachel was frozen, half-dressed, in her hotel room. She wanted to ask Tobias for advice. She wanted to know what he thought she should do. She knew that he was sitting perched on the roof; waiting to see what she chose to do. He would be there for her either way. Despite her longing, she knew it wasn't his advice she really wanted. His opinion didn't matter. But she could ask him what he thought, she couldn't ask the one who mattered and she couldn't guess. Even Cassie didn't seem to know the answer and Cassie always knew.

She had decided not to go. Then she had bought the dress. She had decided to go. Then she had made plans to be elsewhere. Why did this decision seem so much harder than any of the decisions she had made during the war? The question was a lie. She knew exactly why. As much as it had rankled her at times to admit it, she hadn't been the one making decisions during the war. It had been her brave cousin who called the shots and she had followed orders like the good soldier she was born to be. There had been times when she had wished to be free of his orders, to follow her own destructive path. This was not one of the times. She wanted more than anything for her fearless leader to tell her what to do. To order her to go or stay. But he wouldn't. He hadn't. He couldn't.

He had left the decision to her and she didn't know what to do. She looked down at the stocking pulled halfway up her legs. She reached down and gracefully pulled them up. She zipped up her dress and fastened her heels.

Tobias was waiting for her outside just as she had suspected. He flew down from the roof top and landed on her shoulder. Despite the turmoil of unpleasant emotions going on inside her, she burst into laughter at the sight of him. She was laughing so hard she was actually in tears.

Tobias shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably. (It was Marco's idea.) He said. (He wanted to make sure that I wasn't shooed away by ill-informed security guards.)

Rachel attempted to gasp out a response. "Marco told you….and you listened….shouldn't you…know…better?"

Tobias ruffled his feathers. (Are we going?)

Rachel immediately sobered up. She sighed. "Yes. We're going."

Tobias rubbed his feathery head against her cheek.

The cameras were there, of course, they always were these days, and every one of them zoomed in on the blonde haired girl with the bow-tie wearing red-tailed hawk on her arm the moment she walked through the cemetery gates. For a moment the reporters were distracted by the bizarre sight but eventually the brief respite came to an end and they remembered the tactless question they had been eagerly waiting to ask.

"How does it feel to be at your cousin's funeral knowing you're the one who killed him?"

Rachel walked bravely through the crowd. Ignoring the questions. Tobias kept up a constant flow of dialogue inside her head where no one else could here. Hearing him talk so much was almost as bizarre to her as seeing him wearing the ridiculous looking bow-tie, but she was grateful. It helped to distract her from the reality of where she was.

Tears streamed down her face and her eyes were red but Rachel was every bit as beautiful as always as she took her place next to her cousin beside Tom Berenson's grave.


	3. Tears in the Bed Sheets V1

**Tears in the Bed Sheets: v.1**

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Rachel somehow managed to keep her composure throughout Tom's funeral. Digging into some previously undiscovered well of strength, she even managed to hold it together all the way back to the hotel but the well ran dry as soon as she reached her bed. She collapsed on to it and wailed.

Tobias, who had morphed human as soon as they entered the room, lay down next to her and wrapped his arms around her.

She cried harder than she ever had in her life. She cried harder than she even knew was possible. The sobs kept coming one after another and for once she didn't hold back. There was no need for secrecy anymore, no need to hide the pain. She cried every tear left unshed during the war and Tobias held her through every sob; one arm around her shoulder, the other stroking her hair. Occasionally his fingers would enter twine with hers. She cried and he held her for exactly one hour and forty-five minutes.

Then his arm shifted and he drew away from her. She watched with panicked eyes as he slid off the bed. She didn't need to ask. She knew exactly what he was doing.

"No!" She begged and screamed. "Please don't. Stay with me. Stay with me Tobias. Be human with me."

His face was expressionless but his breaking heart was still visible in his eyes. "I can't Rachel. I'm sorry. I have to. I'm sorry. I'm sorry" He repeated the phrase until he no longer had a mouth to speak with and then he chanted it in thought-speak. (I'm sorry. I'm sorry.)

She screamed at him. All of her grief turned to rage. "No!"

He finished the morph and fluttered toward her but she screamed again. "Stay away from me! I hate you! Stay away!" In between her words she threw whatever she could grab at him until he finally flew away through the window still chanting, (I'm sorry. I'm sorry.).

Her fury was not sated by the sight of his tail disappearing though the clouds. If anything it increased. Lost in the strength of her fury she returned to the bed, screamed again in wordless anguish and began ripping apart the sheets.

When her anger was finally spent she wept again, this time alone. Her tears fell through the rips in the bed sheets.


	4. Tears in the Bed Sheets V2

**Tears in the Bed Sheets: v.2**

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Rachel somehow managed to keep her composure throughout Tom's funeral. Digging into some previously undiscovered well of strength, she even managed to hold it together all the way back to the hotel but the well ran dry as soon as she reached her bed. She collapsed on to it and wailed.

Tobias, who had morphed human as soon as they entered the room, lay down next to her and wrapped his arms around her.

She cried harder than she ever had in her life. She cried harder than she even knew was possible. The sobs kept coming one after another and for once she didn't hold back. There was no need for secrecy anymore, no need to hide the pain. She cried every tear left unshed during the war and Tobias held her through every sob; one arm around her shoulder, the other stroking her hair. Occasionally his fingers would enter twine with hers. She cried and he held her for exactly one hour and forty-five minutes.

Then his arm shifted and he drew away from her. She watched with panicked eyes as he slid off the bed. She didn't need to ask. She knew exactly what he was doing.

"No!" She begged and screamed. "Please don't. Stay with me. Stay with me Tobias. Be human with me."

He hesitated then reached out and grabbed her hand. "Please understand" he said, "I can't give up my wings any more than I can give up you. If I stay human we'll never again be able to soar above the clouds together. If I see you riding a thermal it will be from the ground. I don't want that. I can't give up the sky. So please don't ask me to."

Slowly she let go of his hand. He stepped back and she watched wordlessly as the feathery pattern etched itself onto his skin. He completed the morph and began to return to human but she stopped him.

"No, please don't. Stay like that."

He wanted to wrap his arms around her again but he respected her wishes just as she had respected his.

Instead he perched on the top of her headboard and watched over her until she fell asleep on the tear-soaked bed sheets.


	5. Tears in the Bed Sheets V3

**Tears in the Bed Sheets: v3**

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Rachel somehow managed to keep her composure throughout Tom's funeral. Digging into some previously undiscovered well of strength, she even managed to hold it together all the way back to the hotel but the well ran dry as soon as she reached her bed. She collapsed on to it and wailed.

Tobias, who had morphed human as soon as they entered the room, lay down next to her and wrapped his arms around her.

She cried harder than she ever had in her life. She cried harder than she even knew was possible. The sobs kept coming one after another and for once she didn't hold back. There was no need for secrecy anymore, no need to hide the pain. She cried every tear left unshed during the war and Tobias held her through every sob; one arm around her shoulder, the other stroking her hair. Occasionally his fingers would enter twine with hers. She cried and he held her for exactly one hour and forty-five minutes.

Then his arm shifted and he drew away from her. She watched with panicked eyes as he slid off the bed. She didn't need to ask. She knew exactly what he was doing.

"No!" She begged and screamed. "Please don't. Stay with me. Stay with me Tobias. Be human with me."

She had made the same request of him countless times since the Ellimist had returned his morphing abilities but this time was different. This time he found he was unable to deny her this one thing any longer.

He climbed back onto the bed and wrapped his arms around her. This time they both cried. She for the innocence she had given up long ago and he for the skies he had given up for her. Together they cried, Boy and Girl, their tears mixing together as they fell on the bed sheets.

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**A/N:**This story just popped into my head as well as all three possible reactions to the two hour time limit. I knew immediately I had to write it and I spent a while deliberating as to which one when I suddenly decided to just do all three. I hope it's not too confusing but I _did_ warn you not to expect continuity. I think all three of these are equally probable scenarios. Tobias and Rachel love each other but Tobias's refusal to give up his wings has always been a sore spot in their relationship. If a future story ties into one of these in a meaningful way I'll be sure to drop a hint. Otherwise just pick your favorite and pretend it's a continuation of that continuity. Thank you for reading. Please review. It's nice to know there are people out their listening.


	6. Total Media Domination

Tobias shifted on his branch as he watched a clearly angry bald eagle clutching three tabloids make a very messy landing in his meadow. How exactly had she planned to land with her claws full? Clearly she had not thought this through; then again, it was an angry Rachel. It would have been odd if she had stopped to think things through. He wanted to know what had upset her but he decided to wait patiently for her to finish demorphing. He was sure there would be no need to ask. She wouldn't have come here if she didn't want to vent. As soon as she was completely human, the stunningly beautiful barefoot blonde in designer jeans bent over and picked up the tabloids.

She then proceeded to throw each one of them back down. One by one. With an angry shout of "Marco!" "Marco!" "Marco!" After each one. "Why is Marco on the cover of all these magazines! And it's not just magazines he's had at least 5 times the number of interviews as everybody else. Who made him the official spokesperson of the Animorphs? Did Jake appoint him without telling me? "

So that was it, thought Tobias. She was jealous of the attention Marco was getting from the press.

(Well, I don't think he was appointed by anybody he just kind ended up filling the position by default.)

"Default! There are five other members of the Earth Liberation Force! How did he end up our default!"

Tobias decided it would be best if he explained quickly. Best for Marco anyway, he was pretty sure if he didn't explain quickly the current unofficial spokesperson for the Animorphs would be having an unofficial interview with an angry grizzly bear.

(Ax was ruled out immediately because he's alien. Cassie tends to question our actions, nudging us off of the heroic pedestal the media has placed us on which annoys them. They don't want anyone messing with their heroes, especially their heroes. I make them nervous because of my rejection… what _they perceive_…as my rejection of humanity. They wanted Jake but our fearless leader…) He broke off. The truth was Jake wasn't fit for normal human interaction right now. The war had broken him. They were all trying to help him put the pieces back together but it would be a while before he was recovered enough to fully handle the pressures of the mass media. After all they'd been through it hurt to seem him that way, but he knew he didn't need to finish the thought. Rachel would understand.

(That leaves you and Marco.)

"Yeah, Marco and _**me**_." The barefoot blonde interrupted. "So why is Marco getting all the attention."

Tobias hesitated. What was the best way to explain this?

(Well, you see, um…Do you remember the first few days after the war?)

"Of course, how could I forget those feckless spineless idiotic yeerk-loving reporters repeating their questions about Tom and the bladeship and Jake over and over and over."

(And do you remember how you responded to those feckless spineless idiotic yeerk-loving reporters?)

Rachel smiled her dangerous brilliant smile. "Yeah, I turned into an elephant and smashed their vans and then I threatened to acquire a croc and visit their studios if they ever…came…near…oh. I see."

(And that left Marco.)

"Hmmph…We'll see about that. Now that I know what the problem is. If Marco thinks he's gonna hog all the cameras he'd better think again. It's war."

Tobias listened to her plans for total media domination and smiled internally. This was his Rachel. She'd been getting restless lately but it looked like she had finally found herself a new enemy to focus on, a new goal to fight for. He doubted she actually cared much about the media attention, she was just itching for battle and her eyes had landed on Marco.

Poor Marco.

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**Please Review!**


	7. Names

**Names**

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My name is Rachel. Just Rachel. For years I hid my last name for fear of being caught and killed or infested by my enemies. Now I just don't need it. On the rare occasions that someone doesn't recognize me on sight my first name is all that's needed to let them know who I am. It's funny, we spent all those years of starting our secret accounts with "My name is" yet none of us ever imagined the impact our names would have after the war.

I might not need _my_ last name but there are thousands of Rachels whose last names will be getting plenty of use. It was the most popular baby name for girls last year followed by Cassie, Tiger, Ani and Mili. The top two boys' names were Jake and Berenson and my cousin's namesakes don't stop there. Besides having Tiger as the third most popular girl's name, it's also 10th on the boys list, Bengal is 15th for girls and the name of the tiger that supplied the DNA for his signature morph is number 25. Even Jake's dog/first morph Homer makes it into the boys' top 50.

Marco's name is 8th for boys which is 9 ranks higher than Tobias which comes in at 17. Marco actually tried to tease him about it until Tobias pointed out that the hork-bajir seer was named for him and Toby is number 6 on both the girls' and boys' list. Marco claimed that didn't count but he hasn't brought it up again either.

Animal names in general have caught on. Everyone's battle morph except Marco's is in the top 100. I guess no one wants to name their kid Gorilla even if it was a part of the Earth Liberation Force, though the donator of the gorilla DNA, Jim, does make the list so it's not left off completely. Several of our other morphs are becoming common names too, including the insects.

I really hope these kids don't hate us when they grow up.


	8. Ambassador Part 1

**Ambassador Part 1**

On August 3rd, the International Committee on Interplanetary Relations was scheduled to discuss agenda item number 12.6.3b. They spent roughly 45 minutes on the issue then handed it over to the newly formed International Committee on Interplanetary Relations Ambassadorial Subcommittee. The first item on the subcommittee's agenda was to make recommendations for the position of Earth Ambassador to the Andalite home world. It was quickly decided that the results of Prince Aximili's challenge during the final battle showed quite clearly that the civilian and military members of the Andalite population have significantly different cultures and would therefore require different ambassadors. Thus less than an hour after its formation the International Committee on Interplanetary Relations Ambassadorial Subcommittee had formed its first two sub-subcommittees. Everyone felt this was an excellent sign of progress.

After several days of discussion civilian sub-subcommittee picked the Animorph Tobias who was (at least supposedly, the evidence was a bit contradictory) a descendant of the Andalite war hero Elfangor and his mother Loren who had married said hero.

The military sub-subcommittee had initially had its heart set on sending Jake Berenson, Earth's greatest military hero. Eventually, however, everyone had acknowledged that the general who successfully outmaneuvered the Andalite military so spectacularly might not be the best ambassador. In fact, they probably shouldn't send a military leader at all. They needed to send a warrior. Once they reached that conclusion there was really only one choice.

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So this is the set-up for a short story line I'm thinking of following up on. I've pretty much got Rachel's reaction to the proposal worked out but I could use some inspiration about how her stint as an ambassador with the Andalite military would go. So if anyone has any ideas let me know! I'll be sure to credit you.

Please Review.


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